Lessons In Love
by Jaggarte x
Summary: After failing an important mission, Hinata resolves to better herself - the only problem is, who will teach her? Hinata/Jiraiya.
1. A Mission Failed

**Lessons in Love**

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**Summary: After failing an important mission, Hinata resolves to better herself - the only problem is, who will teach her? **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto do you think I would be here? That said...I do not own Naurto. Clearly. Possibly. Maybe...**

**A/N: This is a Hinata/Jiraiya - reader BEWARE! If you don't like this pairing you have been warned. This is my first story so please be gentle. This is the first of many chapters and if you like it I would appreciate any feedback. **

**ALSO - This story has been beta'd and therefore entirely rewritten by Emerald Elf-Slytherin707! You guys should go read her awesome stories (but be warned, she is a slash fiend).  
**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_

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**Chapter 1: A Mission Failed**

Her heart was beating fiercely, breath quick.

With a sudden shove forward, hard-soled feet made their way across the threshold, a hand retreating where it had 'helped' her through the door, as she fixed her eyes on the target.

The inn was just like any house of debauchery you might find hidden in the scantly-visited street ends of a shinobi village, and filled with all the regular attachments - loose women, looser men, cheap beer and the pungent smell that seemed to flow from the crumbling ends of cheap cigarettes.

Wiping her hands on the front of her kimono, she swallowed thickly, and slowly, steadily, walked forward - the noise of the inn consuming her, as her gaze fixed on a certain man.

Many different eyes stalked her as she walked forward, sizing her up, following her figure from head to toe - and she tried fiercely to keep her face plain, blank, and free of colour - her eyes never moving from the man at the table, closer to her now, who seemed not to notice her at all; hunched over an empty cup as he was.

It was her teammates who entered then, and whom took a table not very far away from where she was headed, that would later claim to have seen much less than they did.

And she was almost there.

"Oy, waitress!" The raspy voice was mean with inebriation. "Another sake! Just bring the _bottle_ this time..."

She inched closer, heart beating faster than ever - and though she wouldn't think of it later, in that moment, she considered running.

But she couldn't fail this. Not this time, not when it was this important. People had put their trust in her to succeed in this, and she wouldn't let them down.

And then, with a look of confusion and arrogance, the man's head lifted, and suddenly he met her gaze.

The girl was struck dumb for a moment, holding her breath, as she felt suppressed blood rush to heat her cheeks - and she bowed her head. With all her effort, she tried to remember what her teammates had told her about her duties - the way she should act, what she should say - but it fled her mind and left only the crippling terror that sent her hands shaking and lips stuttering, as she edged her way further towards him.

In all truth, it was a wonder that she didn't faint on the spot.

The sounds of the laughter and loud conversation around her seemed to ebb, a certain tense silence that only she and man in front of her could hear coming to rest between them, as she closed her eyes, swallowed what remained of her confidence, and took the seat across from him.

And there was a strange moment that passed by them, before, ever so slowly, a wide and degrading grin spread over the man's face, and a simple question escaped his lips - rusty with overuse.

"How much?"

Her eyes flung open, her face clearing as she stared up at him, and dared to meet his eyes in her shock and confusion.

"E-e-exc-excuse m-m-me?" She stuttered painfully, the first words she had spoken, all the while trying to understand what it was that he was asking.

"For a night," the man looked confused as well, at her lack of understanding, "you know, for sex. How much do you want for sex?"

The man's eyes brightened for one moment, and then dimmed when replaced by a horrible smirk, as her face went from pale white to, what can best be described as, a bloody red. Her eyes blinked several times, her mind going a thousand miles a second, trying to put words in her mouth. Her body went rigid - she couldn't even turn her eyes to look to her teammates for help - before her peripheral vision became clouded.

The man smirked on as she attempted to put into words, or at least syllables, that she wanted to buy him a drink and was not – in any way - for sale.

Faltering and tripping over her words, she realised in that moment that there was no possible succeeding outcome left in the situation.

It was a failure.

Mustering up her courage, the girl shakily went to stand and leave without another stuttered word - but was stopped, when the man put his hand on her arm.

"It'd be a crying shame if you left now honey, we haven't even introduced ourselves." The man's eyes had a dangerous glint to them now.

The girl considered running more than ever – for she knew, as all shinobi did, that her teammates would have her back in an instant – but at the same time, she knew, that that wasn't what truly mattered at the moment. This was a mission, _her_ mission, and she needed information that only this man could provide – information that she could only get at this moment in time.

Standing up, with his hand still firmly holding her arm, the drunk led the girl to a door near the back of the shady bar. Walking past other tables, she noticed that the man was not as drunk as she had first thought - his steps were too sure for him to be very inebriated, and she noticed that the stains from what she had presumed to be spilt alcohol, were quite obviously strategically placed.

His appearance was set up.

This wasn't good.

Still being led to the door, that she thought must be the back door of the building, she looked back, searching for her friends - but could not see them. Out-rightly refusing to use her Byukagun, the girl swallowed her fear and tried to keep in step with the man, as the knowledge that she was going to be alone in whatever events conspired came to settle in her mind – along with a numbing fear.

Heaving open the back door, the man looked to his side where the girl stood – and she stilled at the look in his eyes. Leaving the entrance open, the man let go of her arm and turned his body slightly.

The girl looked up just in time to see his fist collide with her face.

The first thought that entered her mind was the fact that she was wearing a kimono - not at all suited to fighting, and that she felt disoriented from a mixtures of the atmosphere of the club, her own anxiety, and the blow to her head.

She was at a distinct disadvantage, and she knew it.

Throwing her to the ground, she felt a sharp pain in her side as the man kicked her cruelly – before he spat at her face.

But it was his next words that would leave the largest bruise.

"Tell your damn Kage," he sneered from above her, his face only a blur to her now, "from whatever shitty village you're from, that if they wants to know something – it would have been more subtle to send an autographed letter."

He half-heartedly flung a kunai at her as he turned away, which she, luckily, managed to shift out of aim for - though she knew he wasn't going to kill her, she felt fear shake her form.

She wasn't even worth the effort of killing.

He turned his back on her then, amplifying the fact that he wasn't concerned about her at all, and went back inside - to resume his drinking, and to pick up a real prostitute.

Struggling from where she lay on the filthy ground, the girl managed eventually to get up again. The kunai the man had thrown was buried on the ground next to her head, and as she stood, she realised the man had ripped her kimono in several places. She picked up the kunai, and stumbled out of the alley.

Walking out onto the street, she saw her teammates - who appeared severely concerned as they rushed towards her, but wouldn't look her in the eye. Embarrassed and ashamed, she stood there in the dark - unwilling to admit to what had just happened to her, and how she had failed so completely.

One of them spoke, though she didn't care to discern who.

"We saw it, all of it." He said, voice soft and kind. "Let's get you back to the inn, and you can wash up. You need to put something on that bruise, too."

Her hand tentatively touched her left cheek, and she winced at the lump that had formed there in so little time. Nodding, she followed behind her teammates, as they made their way to the inn that they had chosen to occupy for the mission.

As soon as they had arrived, the girl simply sat on her bed, as a message was composed for the Hokage - detailing that they had failed the mission and were awaiting their next orders – although they could all guess what they would be.

The night was long and painful, both physically and mentally for the girl, and she never did fall asleep. Every position was uncomfortable, and every thought was covered with disgrace.

She was, for the first time in her life, dreading the trip back home – facing the wrath of her family and the disappointment of her friends, she felt, would be too hard to bear.

Before the sun had reached the horizon, the girl woke from her not-quite slumber – ridden with fearful images and awful pain as it was - to hear the sound of wings. Walking to the window on the left side of the room and sliding it open, she saw a bird perched on the sill, with a letter attached to its leg.

After quickly reading the letter, her heart sank even lower – and she looked askance at her teammate's bedroom that adjoined to hers, as she thought about going to wake them. They were to go home immediately, to report to the Hokage about their failure.

With a steely silence, she quietly packed her bags that night, as she decided not to wake the boys - neatly folding each item as she bit back every tear that threatened to roll down her bruised cheeks. And the worst of it was, she knew her teammates would pity her - they would explain in the most courteous way her failure, and try to cover for her – and it all made her feel that much worse.

She was done, she knew. For how could she ever make up for such a colossal mistake? It would go on her record. She had acted like a Genin straight out of the academy, and no one could deny it.

Why couldn't she get it right? She wondered to herself, not for the first time. Why couldn't she succeed, just once?

And as she finished packing her bags and the sun was just rising over the hills, and she knew that the boys would wake up at any moment, she made up her mind.

She needed help.

She needed to learn to be confidant and able if she ever wanted another mission, or the trust of the Hokage, ever again.

It was only a question of who would teach her.


	2. A Decision Made

**Lessons in Love**

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**Summary: ****After failing an important mission, Hinata resolves to better herself - the only problem is, who will teach her?**

**Disclaimer: This is a Hinata x Jiraiya story so please people, if you don't like this pairing then don't come complaining to me about it. You have been warned!**

**Also: I don't own Naruto in any of it's marvellous forms. I don't understand it any more than you do. I mean, where's the justice?**

**A/N: This is un-betaed. My lovely friend Emerald is busy as I am with uni work so was unable to help with this. Also I apologise for the long wait, mainly because the whole thing got lost on my computer. Woe is me. Please forgive me and enjoy the fruits of my labor!**

**Also: I have gone back through this and have deleted Hinata's stuttering. I've watched the recent anime and read the manga and she doesn't stutter all that much anymore so I recitified my mistake. It also was a huge pain to write to please forgive me if you liked it but I decided against it.**

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**Chapter 2: A Decision Made**

Arriving back at Konoha at night the three chuunin jumped over the walls and were checked by the guards on night watch. After being dismissed to do as they pleased they dropped down and looked at each other. Kiba put his hand to the back of his head and grinned foolishly, "Don't worry Hinata-chan! It could've happened to anyone!" He said, obviously talking about their mishap. He looked to his silent teammates and sighed, hanging his arm by his side. "Ok, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the Hokage's office," he promised as he flashed a quick, unsure grin and jumped on Akamaru's back. Before he turned around to go home he pointed to Shino with his thumb and looked at Hinata quite seriously, "we've got your back, so don't worry about a thing." Leaving Shino and Hinata standing in the street he waved his goodbyes and Akamaru galloped away with his rider, heading for the comfort of home.

Both Hinata and Shino watched as their exuberant teammate left them. Looking at the ground, Hinata started to poke her fingers together. "Goodnight Shino-kun." She stuttered out the words, the sound of it aggravating her. "I'll see you tomorrow." She turned to walk home, to get to her room before Shino could see her breakdown on the street when she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her pause in her movements. "You're not going to be alone Hinata-chan," he said, "we will be there with you." Nodding quickly in understanding and because she couldn't trust herself to speak she moved from under his hand, bowed to him and quickly walked home. She turned back once to make sure he was gone before she started running.

Tears threatened to run down her face before she could get to the security of her home but thankfully she beat them. Coming to the gates of the compound in which she lived, she came through the entrance and walked sedately to her bedroom, painfully aware of the sentinels on watch who would report any uncharacteristic behaviour. As soon as she was in her room she shut the door firmly behind her before she let the tears fall. Falling to her knees she put her hands to her face and tried to compose herself. 'I do not cry anymore,' she told herself forcefully, 'I do not cry.'

But she did.

How could she not?

Her teammates were going to cover for her _again. _Again! How could she let her two best friends down so many times? Whenever she felt that she was getting something right, that something good was finally going to happen she messed it up. This was an incredibly important mission and the extra work that would be needed to be done to fix _her _mistake was massive. Not only were they going to have to send another team to find their target but the target was now completely aware of them. He was going to be next to impossible to find. The work that they had done, that she had done, had all gone to waste because she wasn't strong enough.

Well no more.

She had decided that it was not going to happen again.

She was going to find a tutor, a mentor, someone, _anyone_, to help her.

She sat down on a tatami mat that lay on the floor and grabbed a piece of paper and pen and started jotting down her criteria.

1) They could not be a friend

This ruled out a lot of candidates. Not to say that the shy Hyuuga had a lot of friends but her classification of friend bordered on the acquaintance. She also did not want it going around in circles that she was doing this, she would be eternally embarrassed. So that led to number 2-

2) They could not be younger or the same age as her

This was obvious but she felt the need to write it down. How could a younger person give her the wisdom that she wanted? She also didn't want to have to deal with gossip or be linked to that person if they happened to be male. This was to be a strict teacher/student relationship.

3) DO NOT PICK NARUTO

She wrote this before she even knew that she had written anything down but she knew she was right. Not that she would _ever_ gather the courage to do such a _preposterous_ thing. But she still felt that if by some reason unknown to her that she should even _think_ to ask him she would remember what she had written.

4) They should be known and respected

If it did come back to her friends, her family or the village at large she felt the need to secure herself some kind of obvious reason why she had picked them. This led her to the last one,

5) They should have self confidence

This was important. She felt that the key to finding strength was to be happy with yourself or to at least deal with who you were. She needed someone to show her how to do this as she knew it was one of her biggest failings.

Happy with her selection criteria she settled down, writing names and systematically crossing them out. She was doing this all night and only realised the time when the sun started to inch along her floor.

She scrambled up to her legs and fell down. Cursing her tired and stiff legs she slowly stretched them on the floor and then proceeded, with much more care, to stand up. Stretching again, once she was up, Hinata looked down at the pieces of paper strewn everywhere from her night long list making. She had finally settled on one. She smiled slightly as she went into the showers to wash herself.

'Yes,' she decided, 'it was a good choice.'

~~~*~~~

After she had cleaned herself up, Hinata met with her teammates out the front of the Hokage tower. Without a word the three of them walked down the hallway and knocked on the office door. After they were told to come in the three filed in and awaited their leader's assessment and judgement.

It was obvious that she was in one of her moods. Three, rather large, bottles of sake had already been emptied and lay on their side on her desk. Tsunade clearly lived by the law of 'it's 5 o'clock somewhere' because at the moment it was 7 o'clock in the morning. The blonde woman sat at her desk with her arms propped up to massage her hung head. Shizune was nowhere in sight, which was not a good sign as there was no one to appease her anger or quell her violent outbursts. The three were not looking forward to this.

Raising her head with a slight wince, Tsunade looked at each of the three before she spoke, her gaze lingering longer over Hinata's form. Suddenly thumping the table loudly, jolting all but Shino, she leant over her desk.

"What happened?" she started, they didn't answer as they knew this was only the beginning, "what kind of natural, unforeseen, cataclysmic event happened that screwed up one year of good solid tracking?" Standing up, Tsunade continued, "What on _earth_ could have happened that made you site such an incredibly important mission as a failure?" Pacing now, in front of them, she went on, the three standing with bowed heads and hands clasped behind their backs. She stopped in front of Hinata, "who am I to blame for this?"

At this Shino stepped forward. Tsunade's attention was fully enforced on him, "Yes Shino? Would you like to place a comment?" Ignoring the dangerous tone in her voice, Shino replied, "If you are to place blame on anyone it should be all of us as a team, there is no one person at fault here."

Hinata almost gasped, looking desperately at Shino's face for any kind of sign, she almost stuttered out the truth, that it was her that did it. She was to blame. But Kiba grabbed her arm, making her pause in her actions, shooting her a warning glance.

'No', she thought, 'why did it always have to be like this? Why was she always protected?'

Tsunade, who wasn't in fact blind, saw all that went on between the three. Turning around she sat back in her chair putting her elbows on the desk and resting her forehead on her hands like before. Sighing she looked up and waved her hand in the air.

"You may go."

Surprised by this the three stood still to it finally computed in their minds that they could leave. Turning around, all three headed for the door. "Except Hinata," Tsunade said, "you other two can leave."

Kiba turned sharply around looking at Tsunade and then Hinata and Shino had to bodily push him out the door, whispering a quick 'good luck' to Hinata.

Shaking slightly, Hinata was scared. She had never had occasion to be by herself with the Hokage and she found herself wishing she never had. Tsunade looked at Hinata, "So, Hyuuga, do you have anything you'd like to say?"

Ok, here it was, the chance to put things straight. She didn't want to have to rely on Kiba and Shino all the time, she needed to tell Tsunade what had happened.

"I-I h-have ch-chosen a-a tu-t," quickly Hinata gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. Thank Kami for her stuttering! Usually she had a grip on her words as she'd grown up but in situations like this it became unavoidable – and for once she was thankful. She'd almost said something that she hadn't planned on telling at all, not to mention to the Hokage. In her frightened state she had almost blurted out the unthinkable. No one was to know about her decision for a tutor, she hadn't even asked the one she wanted.

Tsunade raised her eyebrow at Hinata's behaviour. This wasn't what she was expecting to hear.

"What was that?" she asked the Hyuuga.

Hinata composed herself, inwardly grimacing at the juvenile action of placing her hand over her mouth, "I-it w-was my faul-,"

"Yes, yes," Tsunade waved her hand in the air, "I know about that, tell me what you were going to say."

She knew? But of course, she'd know, she was the Hokage, she probably knew exactly what happened. Hinata blushed at that thought, 'I wonder how many other people know about it?'

"Hinata," said Tsunade impatiently, "tell me what you were going to say, if you don't tell me, I'm sure there are ways that I could find out."

Hinata blanched and then took hold of herself. Sighing she told Tsunade what her problem was and her solution to it, siting her criteria and her will power to finish what she started.

It was silent for a few minutes when she had finished and while Hinata was getting over so much talking, Tsunade appeared to take in everything that Hinata had said.

"So," Tsunade started, "who have you chosen to help you in this," she waved her hand around, "endeavour," she finished.

Hinata looked to the ground with her fingers tapping each other, "w-well, I haven't as yet asked them, but I," she stopped tapping her fingers but stared resolutely at the ground, it was now or never, "I have chosen J-Jiraiya-sama."

Hinata wasn't looking at Tsunade so all she heard was a loud crash and looked up in time to see Tunsade's legs waving around in the air. She had obviously, in astonishment, leant back so hard on her chair that she had propelled herself onto her back, bringing the chair with her.

Hinata gaped as Tsunade quickly got to her feet, striving to keep hold of the situation.

"Are you sure?" Tsunade asked quite hesitantly after she had righted her chair and sat back down, "You are aware, I presume, of Jiraiya's," she looked to Hinata, "habits?"

Hinata looked at Tsunade unsure of what she meant.

"Never mind," said Tsunade suddenly, "I'm sure you've thought quite hard about this, I'll leave it in your hands."

Hinata nodded suddenly very unsure.

"But I must tell you Hinata," Tsunade continued, "if Jiraiya accepts and you finish his training you must prove to me and the village that you have learnt something, I'm going to put you off and missions unless necessary and I want a show of confirmation that I'm doing the right thing."

Tsunade stood up and walked over to Hinata, "I will give you a mission that will test your new found abilities and see how you do," she placed her hands on Hinata's shoulders, "don't disappoint me."

Trembling a little under the gaze of her Hokage, the Hyuuga nodded. Taking her hands from Hinata's shoulders, Tsuande called out for Shizune.

Walking in, with Tonton in tow, Shizune bowed, "Yes Hokage-sama?"

"Do you happen to know where Jiraiya-san is Shizune?" asked Tsunade.

"He just left Hokage-sama, he should just be walking down the street, and I heard him say he was going out for lunch."

Tsunade nodded and looked at Hinata, "You may go Hinata, remember what I said."

Nodding and bowing, Hinata left the room to find her future tutor.

"What was that about?" asked Shizune.

"Hinata asked that Jiraiya been her new tutor to teach her self-confidence."

"What?! And you let her?" Shizune looked disturbed and horrified at the suggestion, "what if he tries something? She's only young and she's, well, she's _Hinata_, she'll have no idea what he's doing until it's too late!"

"Calm yourself Shizune," Tsunade said, rubbing her temples, "this is Jiraiya we're talking about. Hinata is not his type of girl."

"But..."

"But nothing, there's no way he'll acquiesce to her proposition," she sighed, "he likes his women rough, easy and loud, everything that the Hyuuga girl is not."

Tsuande turned to her paperwork, the topic settled in her mind.

"When he says no, she'll find a more suitable tutor or not find one at all, ridding her from this crazy idea of hers," she started signing some documents, "there's no way he'll say yes."

~~~*~~~

"I'd be honoured."

Hinata had not thought it would have been that easy.

As she had hurried out of the Hokage's office she didn't give herself time to think before she found Jiraiya, knowing that that would be her downfall. Instead she had rushed out of the building and down the street where the most restaurants were. She didn't even need to search each one as she saw the white haired sannin enter one of the restaurants.

Quickly entering the establishment after him she looked for him and found him at a booth. Walking over she stood by his side, eyes to the floor, waiting to be acknowledged and allowed to sit down.

Jiraiya had seen the pretty girl beside him and had not believed his luck and then cursed himself when he saw it was he Hyuuga heir. She, obviously, wasn't here to party.

Gesturing to the seat opposite him he asked her to sit down. When she had, the waiter took his order and went to get her a glass of water that she had asked for.

"To what do I owe the honour of Hyuuga Hinata?" asked Jiraiya, trying to find a reason as to why she would seek him out.

"I would like to ask you a favour, Jiraiya-sama," Hinata managed to say, unsure of how to continue.

"I am at your disposal, my dear," Jiraiya said expansively.

"I was wondering if you would consider to be my," she looked up at his face, he gestured for her to continue, "my sensei?"

Ready to give him reasons for reasons why she needed a tutor, what capacity she was ready to work in and why she chose him she was not ready for his quick assent.

She quickly told him in a few words what she was hoping to learn from him and, only a few moments later, stood outside with a slip of paper in her hand detailing his address and the time to meet him there.

She was so immersed in the piece of paper that she didn't realise someone was beside her till it was too late.

"Hinata!" shouted a voice to her left. Hinata gasped and almost dropped the piece of paper, stuffing it in her pocket so as to remain undetected. Looking to her side she saw her sister, her hair was messy and unbrushed and her clothes were shoddily put on. Hinata was about to scold her when she saw her face.

"What is it Hanabi," Hinata asked, concerned about her sister.

Hanabi started dragging on Hinata's sleeve, "We have to get home Hinata, as quickly as we can!"

"But why myouto? What's wrong?"

"It's father, he found out about your mission," Hanabi replied finding herself not having to pull her sisters sleeve anymore, "he's really angry nee-san and he, hey! Wait up!"

But Hinata had already jumped up to the nearest building and was off at a sprint, trying to get home as fast as she could so as not to aggravate her father anymore than he already was.

She was in trouble, no doubt there would be hell to pay.

Hinata was not looking forward to what awaited her and needless to say, she was right.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! Sorry again for the late chapter I will endeavour to write the next chapter much quicker than this one.**

**Love you all,**

_Jaggarte x_


	3. An Agreement Reached

**Lessons in Love**

* * *

**Summary: ****After failing an important mission, Hinata resolves to better herself - the only problem is, who will teach her?**

**A/N: This is a Hinata x Jiraiya story so please people, if you don't like this pairing then don't come complaining to me about it. You have been warned!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any of it's marvellous forms. I don't understand it any more than you do. I mean, where's the justice?**

* * *

**Chapter 3: An Agreement Reached**

Hinata knelt on the floor with her head bowed to the ground and her hands flat before her in a gesture of supplication and penitence. Her form was stiff and unwavering as the head of the Hyuuga clan stood towering over her.

Words still echoed in the room.

His louder more aggressive male voice had dominated the conversation, leaving his daughter and heir no room to plead her case. The details of her failure, but thankfully not the reason why, had been leaked to her father and he was not pleased. He'd come to expect the worst from her but she still managed to surprise him each time and she felt it keenly.

The Hyuuga heir could not see her father but she could feel him staring at her, debating what to do. She felt his intake of breath and waited for more verbal abuse or a dismissal, either option was cringe worthy. What he said didn't make much sense to her at the time and it won't be till much later, when given the time to reflect on the events that transpired, that she will realise what her father was trying to say to her.

"You're a woman of the Hyuuga, Hinata," his voice a bit rough with his previous shouting spoke to her much softly than his previous words, "not to mention my heir. If you don't become stronger I...I don't know what to do with you."

Hinata knew her father well and did not look up from her belittled state on the ground as her father strove to keep emotion in check in his voice. It was times like these that she would fare better to just be still.

"You are an embarrassment to me, especially with your younger sister outmanoeuvring you in every aspect of your training, not to mention your cousin." Hyuuga Hiashi began to pace in front of her, barely missing her fingers with each step but though she felt him she did not allow herself to flinch, or curl her nails to her palms. She was a little at ends as how to read her father at this moment. He had never been so agitated before.

"Are you even doing anything besides your mindless training to better yourself?"

Crap. This sounded dangerously like a question. Best to write it off as her father throwing around a rhetorical question and even if he was asking, would she, could she tell him?

"Well?" His voice thundered, "Are you asleep down there or have your wits finally dulled so much that you cannot answer such a simple question?"

Hinata was very worried now as she stayed in her position but lifted her head slightly off the ground so as to speak. Petty insults were not the weapons used by her father, he was worried about something. Best to say the truth about everything, he might know something or he would anyway. Lies would just catch up to her later.

"Yes Tou-sama, I am," she resisted the urge to stop saying too much but decided against it in favour of telling him the whole truth, "I am being tutored by Jiraiya-sama."

Silence greeted her words but she wasn't so surprised. This new information would come as a shock to anyone who knew her.

"To do what?" Were the abrupt words spoken back to her.

"Jiraiya-sama is teaching me the art of self confidence. He is also teaching me how to be a spy and to adopt another persona. I did this because of my most recent failure," she took a risk and lifted her head to greet her father's gaze, his eyes were calculating and cold, "I did this to become a kunoichi worthy of the Hyuuga name."

Her hands were still in front of her but she kept her head raised high, begging for her father's acceptance of this plan but never for herself at least not today.

There was a moment where she held her breath waiting for the onslaught or agreement and she wished that she had kept her mouth closed. Her father looked back down to her after looking to the wall beside him and held a hand out for her.

Not one to let an opportunity to go by to touch her father apart from combat, Hinata gladly took her father's hand and stood up swiftly.

"Do not let your other studies and training go to waste, you still have much to learn in regard to becoming the heir and a good wife."

Hinata nodded her head eagerly, this all sounded good.

"I expect this all to be done with the utmost care to your reputation and for you to be discrete at all times. Do not waste Jiraiya-sama's time and expertise."

Hinata stood there dumbfounded but found the breath to tell him that she had not told anyone and was not planning on doing so.

Hiashi nodded his head briefly, "Hinata, you must also think about the future. You are of marrying age and must put on the best face at all times in public. Do not dishonour me daughter."

With those few words Hyuuga Hiashi left the room and left the door open for Hinata.

Standing in the room for a moment, Hinata felt the urge to jump up and down. Composing herself and trying to rid the goofy smile from her face, she made her way to her rooms to ready herself for tonight.

Her father had called her something that he had never called her before and it gave Hinata hope for the future.

He had called her daughter.

~~~*~~~

The day passed quickly and it wasn't long till Hinata found herself estimating the time to get to Jiraiya's apartment from the compound and found that she needed to leave soon if she was to get to his place on time.

Humming to herself, she wrapped the red ribbon her sister had given her around her wrist in case she needed to tie up her hair and thought back to when she had received it just a few hours before.

When Hinata had finished talking to her father she had walked to her room and started to practice her calligraphy. Only after she had set everything up did she find herself trying to save her ink as her enthusiastic sister came bouncing in.

The relationship between the two sisters had always been strained around their father but when it was just the two of them they shared a deeper sisterhood then at first thought. Hanabi adored her sister but was easily annoyed by her. Patience was not a strong personality trait of Hinata's sister and was therefore continually heaping insults on her in a bid to get her moving the way she thought best. It always came from the right place though, so Hinata didn't get too upset by it. She also knew that Hiashi's word meant everything to Hanabi, as it did to her, so she never begrudged her sister any kind word if it was at her expense.

Hanabi was also very fond of the colour red and when she had sat herself next to her sister, pulled out a thick, long, red ribbon from her pouch and placed it in Hinata's hand.

"This is for you one-san," Hanabi said, looking for the reaction that she got without fail from her sister, "I found it yesterday and thought that maybe you could start tying up your hair once in a while."

Hinata was thrilled; it wasn't often that she received presents so each one was very precious to her.

"Arigatou Hanabi, it's a beautiful colour."

Once Hanabi was pleased with her reaction she placed her hand on Hinata's knee.

"How did it go?" She asked hesitantly, expecting a bad response but surprised when her sister laughed.

"Well," Hinata couldn't help but grin after she had laughed out loud, it really was quite strange how her father had changed tune after she had told him about Jiraiya and her plan but she waved it off as him being surprised at his eldest showing initiative for once, "it actually went well."

The two talked for a bit longer after Hinata had told her sister the bare minimum of what had gone on with her father. She was a bit concerned that Hanabi would ask for more details but she seemed content with what Hinata had said so she subtly cornered the conversation over to Hanabi asking about how her training was going in the academy and if she had many friends.

After a promise to see each other the next day, Hanabi left Hinata to her studies saying that she had to train.

Once the ribbon had been securely tied to her wrist, Hinata packed up what she had done with her calligraphy, always impressive, and dressed casually. She wasn't sure what they would be doing tonight but this was only the first lesson, if she needed different attire she would be suitably dressed next time.

Setting out from the compound Hinata made her way to Jiraiya's apartment with all her courage bundled in her stomach causing small butterflies to erupt and start a huge war.

~~~*~~~

It wasn't much of trek to her new tutor's abode. Konoha wasn't an obscenely huge village so even though Jiraiya was situated on the opposite side to where she lived it only took fifteen minutes for her to walk there.

The building was nondescript and very much the same as any other complex she had walked past on the way to this one. There was probably no need to have some ostentatious house for a sannin that left to go on year long missions. It was very practical.

Practical was good. Hinata could work with practical. She felt the war in her stomach soothe to a minor battle at this thought, any person who was practical couldn't be all that bad.

Walking up the stairs Hinata sought out the correct number and knocked on the door. Hearing someone cursing inside and the sound of things crashing together made Hinata almost turn around and run back home but she steeled herself and waited for the person inside to open the door.

Unsurprisingly, it was Jiraiya. What was surprising was what he was clothed in or rather _not _clothed in. She didn't even need a mirror as she felt the blush race up her face and down her chest.

There stood Hinata, redder then anytime before with a half naked Jiraiya, clothed in only a towel. As a kunoichi she had been primed for many different situations in the shinobi world, from how to remain hygienic on long trips with no plumbing to how to deal with a trusted teammate turning against her but nothing, _nothing, _had prepared her for this moment.

Over time she had managed to fight her innate ability to develop narcolepsy in embarrassing situations – mainly because it would be an incredibly bad way to die to have the enemy kill you when you faint from embarrassment over something that would be, honestly, inconsequential – so she didn't even have that to fall back on.

Jiraiya took one look at the flustered girl and internally groaned, he had to teach this girl self confidence? It was going to take a lot longer than he initially thought, well, no time like the present.

"You're going to have to get used to people in any way they present themselves to you Hyuuga-san," he said, his deep voice taking on a slightly mocking tone, "As a Konoha shinobi nothing should stun you because the moment you are stunned is the moment that an enemy sees through a disguise, sneaks away or kills you."

Hinata was abruptly pulled up by his words, he was right. She had to strive to keep an indifferent attitude to everything.

But did he have to answer the door in nothing but a _towel?_

Hinata nodded at him, not wanting to stutter or stumble over words, and watched him shrug his shoulders and walk away from the door back to the bathroom.

She caught herself ogling the man as he walked away from her and chastised herself. Now was not the time to admire her sensei's body, no matter how good it was, especially for his age. These were unwanted thoughts, well, not really unwanted, more along the lines of confusing and strange.

Focusing on the room that she was in instead of the muscular sannin putting on clothes in an open doorway to her right, Hinata found that she was in the only available space in the whole room. Oh sure, there was a path of sorts, something similar to a deer trail in the woods, to the kitchen and lounge but every other available space was taken up by paper, souvenirs from his travels, knick knacks, books, manuscripts and letters, some unopened and some not, scattered everywhere.

She felt Jiraiya come up behind her and turned to face him as he put a shirt on, covering the huge scar on his chest. She tore her eyes away from his chest when the shirt obscured her view and looked to the floor in embarrassment; it was obvious that she had been caught staring. She missed the corner of his lips curve upwards and the twinkle in his eyes when she pointed to the mail on the ground.

"You get a lot of mail Jiraiya-sama"

He shrugged, "It's mostly fan mail Hyuuga-san, nothing of importance"

He made his way past her, brushing against her in the small enclosed space, thanks to the junk cluttered everywhere, and made a spot for her to sit on next to him on the couch.

"Here Hyuuga-san," he patted the couch, "I think it best we figure out what you want to get out of these lessons before we start anything."

"Hai," she replied as she sat down.

"Before we get down to that though," Jiraiya said, looking at the small kunoichi next to him, "We should figure out what the payment will be for my services."

Hinata blanched; her eyes wide. Of course! She was so stupid! One of the first things she'd learnt as a kunoichi was that nothing came for free. She wracked her mind quickly for some kind of payment that would be satisfactory for the sannin.

"I, ah, could procure some funds for you Jiraiya-sama, my father knows about this so he would be willing to compensate you with however much you think is necessary. If not I could always pay you with the money I have saved."

Jiraiya cut her off with his hand.

"No, Hyuuga-san, I never said anything about money."

Silent for a moment, Hinata was at a loss as to what she could give him that would make up for him teaching her.

"What would you like Jiraiya-sama. I'll give you anything within my means for this opportunity."

She was a little unnerved by the smile that appeared on his face at her words.

"Oh Hyuuga-san, how I wish I could take you up on those words but unfortunately I have other needs that require attending to."

Hinata blushed again as he spoke of his 'needs', she didn't want to dwell too deeply on that and how much she was not so against the idea. Of course, she _would be_ if she had any idea what he really meant.

"What I need for you to do for me Hyuuga-san," he continued, pausing for a moment, "is to be my personal assistant of sorts. I need you to help me with the daily chores that I just don't have the time to do. Also, as time goes on I'll need you to help me with my books." He looked at the mess of paper piled precariously in the corner, "I think I need someone with good management skills who can help me keep abreast of things. So what do you say?"

The heiress was overjoyed, chores she could do, managing things she could do, there wasn't much she _couldn't_ do, except maybe please her father and be confident.

One of those she was hoping of fixing with the help of the man beside her and hopefully the other wouldn't be too far behind.

"That sounds perfect Jiraiya-sama, I'm more than willing to do all of that for you."

"Good," he said, the relief in his eyes was evident and a little comical, "now onto the second thing we need to discuss. Tell me what happened to make you want these lessons and then tell me what you want out of them."

So Hinata told him all about her failed mission and why she felt the need to seek him out. When she told him about her criteria his eyes crinkled in laughter but he didn't say anything. After she was done with how she had gotten to where she was she lifted her fist.

"Overall my goal is to be more self-confident and able to do covert missions with another persona but there are four things I have realised I need to learn." She pointed one finger up, "The first thing I realised I had to learn was how to not let my emotions rule my features, I can lie but as you have noticed I blush a considerable amount and my face betrays what I'm thinking."

Jiraiya nodded at this.

She pointed a second finger up, "Secondly, my personality is not conducive to anything but sweet. I do not want to get rid of my personality but I do want to adopt a tougher edge. Thirdly," she pointed another finger up, "I stutter and stumble over my words when I'm faced with a difficult situation, sometimes a stutter can fool people into believing that I am stupid or imbecilic and this does work in my favour but I'd like the ability to turn it off and on at will."

She had practiced this speech at home and was coming to the tail end of it now, she started to feel anxious that maybe he wouldn't want to teach her all of these things. She pointed her pinky in the air, "And the last thing I think I need to learn is to gather information reliably and not to become a burden to my teammates."

Jiraiya looked at her and stood up, this was it, this was where he would tell her to go home and not bother him with idiotic quests to better herself.

"I can help you Hyuuga-san"

Shocked, Hinata looked up at him, her eyes betraying the fact that she wanted to believe him.

"I really can but you need to follow my every instruction. Even if it seems that I'm asking you to do something stupid or trivial. I am your sensei from here on out and my word is law to you."

Hinata nodded, the joy rising up, the butterflies had finally stopped fighting and were having a peace pipe in her honour.

"Hai Jiraiya-sensei"

"We can start first thing tomorrow morning, I need to get your lesson organised but for now you can help me clean up this mess."

Hinata stood up next to him and smiled up at him, "Thank you so much for this Jiraiya-sensei. I will not let you down."

Jiraiya smiled back at her, a bit too much like a predator, "You might think better of that statement when you find out what the subject of your lessons will be from now on."

The Hyuuga cocked her head to the side a little, "Ano, what is the subject of the lessons to be sensei."

"The subject is something that will cover pretty much all aspects of what you said you want to get out of these lessons. It requires skill, lying, sleight of hand and a different attitude"

Hinata started to feel a bit uneasy.

Jiraiya put his hand through his unruly hair in mock humility, "It's something I'm a bit of an expert on."

Her heart dropped

Leaning over and brushing hair away from the face of the now stiff girl, ghosting his calloused fingers over the nape of her neck, Jiraiya leant in and whispered in her ear.

"Seduction"

* * *

**Woo! Finally starting to get to the good stuff! I hope you all enjoyed the lastest chapter, please feel free to give me your ideas, words of love, criticism and letters of hate, I enjoy them all.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter for some good HJ interaction. Well that's enough from me, I'm going to work on uni assignments and the next chapter of Forget Me Not. **

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	4. An Assumption Made

**Lessons in Love**

* * *

**Summary: ****After failing an important mission, Hinata resolves to better herself - the only problem is, who will teach her?**

**A/N: This is a Hinata x Jiraiya story so please people, if you don't like this pairing then don't come complaining to me about it. You have been warned!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any of it's marvellous forms. I don't understand it any more than you do. I mean, where's the justice?**

**Also: Wow, I made a huge mistake (well I exaggerate it wasn't _that _big) in the middle of this and didn't realise it till now so I fixed it up. I can't believe I left that there - so sloppy Jaggarte! I apologise and am amazed that no one gave me slack about it...  
**

* * *

**Chapter 4: An Assumption Made**

After the initial embarrassment and a curious, hot emotion had run its course through the pale eyed woman's body at his words, Hinata was left with the emotion of helplessness. As he leant back from her with a sly smirk she managed to avoid looking at him right at that moment and concentrated on the piles and piles of rubbish around her.

The mess that was Jiraiya's apartment was enormous and seemed endless - and she had just been told to clean it all up.

Thankfully there seemed to be_ some _semblance of order to the mess in his apartment, the trick was to find it and make sense of it. After the two of them agreed on Jiraiya taking care of the piles that were his work and all the papers that were deemed necessary, Hinata was left with the rest, which was basically the whole apartment, except for his room. Jiraiya was working in there and told her that he would clean it himself. The dark haired girl shrugged it off and started on the work that needed to be done.

A few hours later, she had managed, through back breaking hard work, to sort out the garbage from the non-garbage and was in the midst of hauling the big bags out the front door for her new sensei to pick up and drag outside to the complex's bins after he had finished with his side of the work. Her hair was tied up with the red ribbon her sister had given her and her jacket was off, lying on the, now clear, dining room table – ('Where did that come from?' Jiraiya had asked, sincerely perplexed when he had come out of his room for a glass of water). At first when the heat had started to get to her from all the moving about, she was loathe to take it off but now she wished she had worn a singlet underneath so that she could take off her mesh top which was starting to stick to her skin. As it was, propriety and dignity were, unfortunately, too firmly ingrained into her psyche to allow anymore undressing in an unmarried, eligible bachelors home.

Not to mention the fact that he would like it _far_ too much.

After the last bag of rubbish was tossed out the front door and into the ever suggestive hands – because, let's face it, _everything_ is suggestive when it comes to this man – Hinata let herself rest for a moment on the clean couch. Wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, the heiress laid her head back and closed her eyes briefly, ever aware of the noises around her.

When she heard the front door open and close she cracked one eyelid open after a moment and saw the sannin standing off in the corner opposite to where she sat, looking outside at the horizon and watching the sun disappear. In the darkening light Hinata briefly glanced over his physique and couldn't help but be impressed by his stature and bearing. His red coat was off and he was dressed in a white yukata which opened at his chest and was cinched at his waist allowing the young woman to look at the scar that she had seen this morning. She had no idea what could have caused it but found that she couldn't look away. She found herself wondering about what could have made an indent like that; it was such an odd looking scar.

"Do you want me to cook you something to eat?"

His question jolted her back from her musings and she shot up on the couch, her head snapping forward and her eyes opening wide. She heard a crack in her neck and moaned, more at the noise then the actual pain she felt heat her spine for a brief second.

He turned to look at her with a sympathetic smile, folding his arms in front of him, looking more carefully at her dirty and worn out appearance with a touch of concern, "Did I work you too hard?"

"No, no you didn't," She hastened to reply, her arms stiff to her side as she stretched her joints in her neck, "I just haven't done manual labour in a long time."

She tried to grin up at him but felt her neck crick again and hissed at the second sharp pain. She was definitely going to stretch next time he gave her a job to do.

She closed her eyes against the pain in her neck and upon opening them again found that Jiraiya had disappeared from her line of sight. Feeling a presence behind her, the kunoichi went to turn her head to look at him when she felt his hot hand wrap, lengthwise, around the back of her neck, forcing her head forwards. Before she could say a word against it, he had pushed the heel of his palm at the juncture of her spine and pressed and turned in quick succession, _hard_.

A loud _crack _sounded from her bones and her eyes widened and watered at the quick pain that went through her back and neck.

Moving back in front of her, Jiraiya watched with a slow smile as she tested out her neck when the pain had dimmed. It was remarkably better but, for some reason, she could still feel the heat from his hand on her neck. She wasn't sure why she could still feel it and simply pushed the troublesome, ghosting sensation away before she looked up at him with a small smile.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sensei," She said, sincerely grateful and a little flustered.

"No worries," He replied, leaning against the wall again, "So about food..."

She rewound the conversation in her head to get what he was talking about and couldn't help the hesitation show in her face when she realised what he meant. Eat dinner with _him_? What would people say?

"Come on," He cajoled, sensing the young girl before him growing ever so nervous, "Not every day I get a pretty girl over for dinner."

In that moment Hinata had the distinct image of her as a young girl walking down a path and Jiraiya as a wolf, licking his chops - but threw it from her mind. He was obviously just asking her over for dinner, there was no harm in it. _Was there?_

"You can count this as something of a lesson Hinata-chan," He continued, his hand coming up to his face to stroke his chin before spreading both arms expansively, "If you stay for dinner we can go through what you want to do in more depth."

It was this statement that sealed the deal and she nodded her head tentatively.

"Great," he said emphatically, clapping his hands together loudly, "Well, I'll cook us something now and we can eat and talk and then you can go on home. How does okonomiyaki sound?"

"Hai," she replied with a smile, "Sounds good,"

~~~*~~~

And it was the best okonomiyaki she had ever tasted.

Placing her chopsticks down properly by her plate, Hinata couldn't help a small sigh escape from her lips and wished that she could have it again. She never pegged Jiraiya to be such a good cook and looked carefully at the man sitting opposite her.

She felt that she probably should never underestimate this man; he seemed to be full of surprises.

"I take it that means you liked it?" The silver haired sannin smugly asked in reply to her small sigh, sure of her answer.

"Liked it?" She asked, her face lighting up, the night by now clearing most of the hesitation she felt towards the older man, "I loved it!"

He positively beamed at her as he went to stand up and take her plate but she stopped him with a hand on his.

He looked up sharply and she smiled back at him, "I don't think it right that the cook has to clean up as well as cook the food," She took the plates from his hand and walked over to the kitchen, "Let me do it. It's only fair."

She saw him nod and went to work on cleaning up the mess that he'd created with all the ingredients and utensils. The kitchen was right next to the table where Jiraiya sat and Hinata was able to talk to him face to face as she went about cleaning at the sink.

"I never knew you could cook Jiraiya-sensei," the dark haired girl said as she started on the dishes.

"No, not many know," he replied, his eyes hardly leaving the girl's movements, "But I had to learn pretty quickly," he said as he rocked back on the chair, two legs up in the air as he cleaned his teeth with a toothpick.

"Why was that?"

"Because," He answered, waiting till she lifted her eyes to look at him, slamming the two legs back down to the ground, "Tsunade couldn't cook worth a damn."

Hinata laughed lightly and Jiraiya grinned as she continued to clean up

They laughed a few times more and generally got to know each other a little better though nothing was said about either of their lives. There was a past to him that he wasn't willing to divulge to her and she likewise and both seemed to respect that.

When the chores were done and the kitchen was as spotless as the rest of the apartment, Hinata stood at the entrance to the apartment and took one more look at all the work she had done today and felt a sense of pride at what she had accomplished. Jiraiya followed her eyes and had to admit that his place did look a whole lot better.

"Thank you Hinata-chan," He said softly, his hand on the wood about the doorway, "You really helped me out."

"Don't worry about it," she said, her jacket in her arms and her hair still up with the ribbon, "I actually had fun."

The white haired man leant down to his charge to say goodbye and smiled at the slight blush framing her cheeks, he was really starting to enjoy teasing her. He was about to say farewell when something caught his attention down the hallway, looking across with great care to be as subtle as he could, he saw two pairs of eyes staring back at him. He almost groaned at the idea of these two gossipers and what they were going to say about his lovely new student but then smirked when a devious thought ran through his head. These two old ladies were going to assume the worst so why not go for broke? He was never one to let an opportunity pass him by.

Turning his attention back to Hinata, Jiraiya leant in even closer and whispered into her ear, giving the distinct impression that he was giving her a love bite to the old women down the hall.

"I hope you're ready for tomorrow's lesson Hinata-chan," He breathed into her ear lightly and watched as goosebumps ran up her arm. He loved the fact that him being this close to her made her so nervous and relished in her awkwardness. He was close to laughing when he heard her gasp slightly.

He was almost convinced that she knew about the gossipers because in his mind, no one could be this pure and innocent.

"Four o'clock, don't be late," And in a louder voice he concluded, "This time, you make dinner."

"H-hai," She stuttered out, "I'll do my best Jiraiya-"

Seeing that she was going to ruin what he was trying to create for the two busybodies by calling him 'sensei' he quickly pressed one finger to her lips, watching as her eyes widened and the light blush turned to a full on tomato red.

"I'll see you tomorrow," He said softly before turning around and closing the door behind him, leaving the poor Hyuuga to collect herself from her odd sensei's behaviour.

She gallantly tried to stop her blush from further development and tried to shrug off her sensei's odd behaviour as nothing more than eccentricity as she started the relatively short walk home. As she walked down the hallway she remembered that the reason for having dinner in the first place was so that they could talk about what she wanted to get from the lessons, he'd obviously derailed any such conversation and she been completely unaware of it. Smiling to herself as she thought on what the night had brought her, Hinata was completely unmindful of the two pairs of eyes watching her walk away with an unadulterated look of glee.

~~~*~~~

The night had come and gone, the young Hyuuga arriving home without incident, and she was waking up to see that the sun had already risen and was shining into her bedroom.

As she stretched in her bed she was bombarded with thoughts of last night and was left trying to wrap her mind around the complex personality that was Jiraiya.

She was more than aware of his reputation and the books of which he was so famous for. She was not as oblivious as people seemed to deem her. She had even read some of them! Once, Kakashi had let her read some of the orange book when she had asked him on a mission she and her cousin had been sent on with him. She had had the book ripped from her hands by Neji after she'd only read the first paragraph. Apparently her blooming blush that had stained her face was enough of a pointer to Neji to what she was holding and reading with such girlish enthusiasm. Kakashi had laughed at her until her cousin started yelling at him the rest of the way home.

But as aware as she was, she was nowhere near prepared for his personality. Every conversation, and almost every _word, _was full of innuendo and she couldn't quite get her head around it. She wasn't sure of the proper way to stave off these sorts of comments and hoped that, with more time spent with him, she would learn how to talk back confidently and without such an air of embarrassment.

Moving about her room, Hinata set to making herself presentable and got dressed before hurrying down to the kitchen to make up some bento boxes for herself and her team. For a while the team had decided to take turns preparing lunches for everyone but after a disastrous attempt from Kiba, an inedible concoction from Shino and a completely non-nutritional package from Kurenai when she came, it was decided that Hinata would be the one to make food for all of them. She didn't mind and actually enjoyed, not only the act of making the food for her friends, but also doing something for them all.

After she had packed the food she also grabbed a paper bag and dropped a few ingredients in it for dinner tonight for Jiraiya and herself in case he didn't have what she required to make dinner.

Walking out the door she called farewell to her sister and her father but not Neji, as he was out on a mission for a couple of weeks. Closing the large complex gate behind her, Hinata set out to the training grounds where her team usual waited for her.

As she came closer to their meeting place, Hinata could hear loud voices but couldn't distinguish what was being said. A bit uneasy, as this was not the way her teammates trained, the dark haired woman began to hurry up the hill to see what was going on.

"I don't care _what _you say Shino," The Hyuuga finally found herself well within earshot and slowed her steps as she climbed the hill to where her friends obviously were, she could hear an irate Kiba yelling but there was no danger that Hinata would sense, just angry words, "She would never have done anything like _that_!"

Hinata's curiosity was piqued and found herself slowing down even more as she tried to think about what would get her team so riled up. Unfortunately she couldn't hear Shino's response but as she slowly came closer she could hear what sounded like a scuffle. Whatever it was that was riling her friends up must be quite serious.

"Kiba! Let go of Shino!"

As Hinata had come to the top of the hill the sight that awaited her was horrible. She called out before she knew it and now ran toward her two friends as she saw Shino a foot off the ground being held by his jacket by a pissed off Inuzaka. Her quiet teammate wasn't fighting back and seemed to be fine but the animosity that was inherent in the situation hit the Hyuuga like a ton of bricks and she ran to Kiba's side and pulled on his arm, trying to get him to release Shino without hurting either of them.

The tattooed shinobi's face was full of deadly intent, his eyes were slits and his brows were furrowed. Canines were on show and his lips were drawn back as he growled, watching the Aburame very carefully. Shino was silent and still in his grasp because he knew that one wrong move or word could set his friend off without warning.

"Kiba-kun!" She cried, hating the anger that was radiating off of her dear friend, "What are you doing?"

"Hinata," The young shinobi was surprised at her sudden appearance, his expression softening instantly, his lips came forward in a surprised 'o' and his eyes widened, giving back the appearance of her friend. Kiba dropped his friend quickly, who landed back on his feet, and the Inuzaka stared at the pale eyed girl suddenly growling again when he realised why he and Shino were fighting in the first place, his hands gesticulated wildly in the air as he talked, trying to get across all his emotions, "I'm sorry, ok? I just, well, he said that you, but I didn't believe it, how could anyone? But then the thought, him with you, and he wouldn't stop saying it, I know I shouldn't, but could you? I was so _angry!_"

"What on _earth_ are you talking about?"

The pale eyed heiress looked in distress at her friend as he seemed to rant and spout out nonsensical words.

"He means to ask, Hinata-chan," Shino said as he walked calmly to her side, adjusting the neck of his coat, "Of your whereabouts last night."

Shino looked over pointedly to Kiba and he had the grace to hang his head.

"Sorry," he mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

The quiet shinobi looked back to the young woman curiously while she remained silent. She knew suddenly what they were talking and fighting about and she wasn't sure what to tell them. She had no idea how they knew. No one was supposed to know, her father had believed that she wasn't going to tarnish her or her new sensei's reputation and it looked like it had already begun.

The young man nodded his head and seemed to look straight into her eyes as he spoke levelly to her. "He hasn't tried anything untoward to you, has he?" How did she reply to that? He hadn't outwardly tried anything but just walking past someone like Jiraiya would give you the impression that he had tried something. Nothing had been said outright and she found, as she thought on it, that it all lay in interpretation and maybe she had been reading him wrong all along. Maybe he didn't mean anything by all the moves he'd made, maybe that was just how he was.

As these thoughts raced through the young woman's mind her silence was enough of a damning response to the shinobi who was patiently waiting for her answer.

"I see," said an irritated Shino, breaking through her thoughts as he pushed his glasses up his face. He turned to see a now confused Inuzaka, "Kiba, we need to find Jiraiya-sensei."

"You mean it's true?"

"Wait, please wait," The frantic Hyuuga cried, not eager to see her two teammates go up against the legendary sannin when it could have been avoided if she had only explained herself better. She gripped onto Shino's jacket sleeve, her voice suddenly coming back to her, "What _exactly_ did you hear?"

Shino looked down to her with an unreadable expression and her eyes jerked to the tattooed youth as he spoke up with a loud and indignant tone of voice.

"Two old women live in an apartment across and down the way from Jiraiya-_sama,"_ Kiba said, the last word spat out - the honorific seemed to taint his mouth, "They saw you outside his apartment with your jacket _off_, your hair tied _back_ and apparently he was, he _was..."_ Kiba left off here and looked to the ground embarrassed and Hinata was at a loss to figure out what had made him so bashful. When no one seemed to come to his rescue, Kiba took a breath and looked at Shino, unable to look at his pure, virginal friend as he spoke the last part, "And apparently he was _kissing_ you."

The Hyuuga's eyes opened wide and her mouth fell open in shock as this last part came out and she quickly averted her eyes to the ground. For her teammates to believe in something like this – what must they think of her?

There was no kissing, no kissing at all. And she would have definitely remembered something as crucial and as mind boggling as that. Her face became tainted with a deep red blush as she started to imagine what kissing Jiraiya would be like. As her mind started to run away with the different images that came to light, her face seemed to place her in trouble.

She lifted her head when she heard Kiba groan and Shino shift his feet from standing-mode to attack-mode. Knowing what she had to do stop their assumptions, she managed to bury her hesitation deep within her as she called to mind the reasons why she was seeing Jiraiya in the first place. She pushed her arms out and took hold of the two young men that she deemed family however she could, stopping them from moving off and putting a hold on their emotions.

"I. Did _not._" She started, the words soft but forceful, gaining their attention immediately, "Ever kiss. Jiraiya-sensei."

As she read the worry and doubt in Kiba's eyes she sighed and let go of them before giving the sincerest smile she could dredge up, "I promise."

The young Inuzaka gave her a hesitant smile back before being wiped off again by Shino's next words.

"Jiraiya-'_sensei'_?"

"Ano, well, yes."

Hinata grimaced as she spoke timidly back. Trust Shino to spot the inconsistency.

"Why?"

The Hyuuga looked to her usually enthusiastic friend who had asked this question. She could see the hurt and small flicker of doubt in his eyes and, striving to stop her friends from thinking the worst about themselves, Hinata tried to explain the situation, "No one was supposed to know. He's teaching me things that I know would have been hard for you both to teach me."

"Hard how?"

"Well," Started Hinata, "He's teaching me to become a better kunoichi," She stopped quickly to explain, "Not, of course, jutsu's or anything like that, just other things that most people know how to do." The heiress looked around to see her friend's doubtful faces, "He's teaching me how to be more confident and no longer a liability to you."

"If this is about the last mission Hinata-"

"No Shino," she insisted, "That made me realise what I needed to do but it's not _only _because of that."

She looked at her teammates, teammates who were more like family with each passing day, "I love you all but I need an impartial eye to help me grow to be a better kunoichi and Jiraiya was generous enough to give me that. And please," she continued with a pleading look about her, "You can't tell anyone. My father would not like the fact that you know."

The two looked to each other and Kiba eventually shrugged his shoulders, half against his will and better judgement, "It's your life Hinata," he walked over to the shy kunoichi and grabbed her forcefully and enveloped her into a tight hug, "I just hope you know what you're doing."

When a blush had come across her face sufficiently enough, the Inuzaka pushed her away from him but held on to her shoulders, looking at her carefully, "And I hope you know that if he _ever _tries anything, you tell me straight away and I'll kick his ass."

"Hn," Shino agreed as he shuffled from foot to foot before he spoke up again, "We trust you Hinata."

"Thank you," The young girl was full of appreciation for her teammates at that moment, "It means so much to me."

Kiba waved his hand in the air while Shino was just _there_, an ever invisible presence that was always comforting to the Hyuuga.

"Well," spoke up Kiba after a moment of quiet reflection, "We should get back to it. I'm looking forward," he continued, looking at Hinata, "To see what you become with these lessons."

The dark haired girl smiled at her friend, "So am I Kiba-kun, so am I."

The shinobi waited while the pale eyed young woman went and placed her nearly-forgotten food to the side, under the shade of the tree. Standing up, she walked to the post that she had first talked to Naruto at and followed the well worn cracks with her finger and then turned to face her team.

Slowly she pulled her hair up and out of her eyes, tying it back with her red ribbon and smiled a smile that was trying to be cocky but settled for slightly confident. She watched as their eyes widened minutely and found herself unable to wait till her lesson tonight. Maybe she'd learn more than just motivation to better herself. Maybe she'd learn how to stop that infernal blush.

And maybe, just maybe, she'd learn how to smile that damn cocksure smile _he_ seemed to be so fond of.

Ah goals, where would we be without them?

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**A/N: *bows* I am _soooo _sorry for being incredibly late with this chapter. My muse went on holiday and then got drunk, ran away with a good looking guy, got pregnant, went to Perth and came back in a ute with a pool on the back with a panda...and _then _she only gave me plots for every other fic - and then some - _except _for this one.**

**I've got to get me a new muse.**

**So yes, I'm very sorry and hopefully you will not have to wait too long for the next installment of **_Lessons._

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


	5. A Future Glimpsed

**Lessons in Love**

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**Summary: ****After failing an important mission, Hinata resolves to better herself - the only problem is, who will teach her?**

**A/N: This is a Hinata x Jiraiya story so please people, if you don't like this pairing then don't come complaining to me about it. You have been warned!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any of it's marvellous forms. I don't understand it any more than you do. I mean, where's the justice?**

**Also: So sorry for the incredibly late update, I'll never forget this story but I hope that, though I won't promise it :s, I'll be better then I have been at updating it. Once again, real sorry about the lateness of this, those that are still reading this - I have a deep and abiding love for you XD  
**

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**Chapter 5: A Future Glimpsed**

While Hinata was training with Kiba and Shino, Jiraiya was busy calming a teammate of his own.

"Jiraiya you can_not_ go ahead with this!"

He was in the middle of trying to placate the angry, blonde haired woman who had barged into his apartment, unannounced, but she would have none of it. She paced up and down the length of his apartment; shoulders tense, hands fisted and her face a storm. Jiraiya would have fled but they were already in his home.

Why she was here now, when she'd given permission to Hinata to come to him in the first place, he'd never know, all he knew was that Tsunade was suddenly very against him being a teacher to a young woman. He didn't know where she got the idea that he would cross the line between a student and teacher relationship - that was a bit too far even for him. That, of course, didn't mean that he couldn't think about such things and use the material for his books though.

He came back to the present with the Hokage still yelling at him.

"I can't _believe_ that you would actually go ahead with these, with these..."

"Lessons?" Jiraiya put in helpfully, his hands clasped together in front of him and a small smile on his face, hoping to bring his friend back down from her temper.

"Is _that_ what you call it?" The toad sage winced at the extra octave that she had found, "_Lessons_? Well I got news for you Ero-Sennin," She threatened, her rage back at full throttle as she slowly stepped towards him, her voice dipped dangerously low, "I'll be watching you very, _very _closely and don't be too surprised when you start getting threats from the friends of the Hyuuga you have taken under your wing. Talk is already out about the two of you and I know that you were somehow responsible for it."

The white haired man winced at the truth of that statement and suddenly wished that he wasn't as prone to mischief but knew that he wasn't going to be growing up anytime soon.

Jiraiya raised his hands to his face slowly as soon as Tsunade had stopped her pacing and was standing an inch away from him, her finger, straight and rigid, was pointing at his face, her whole stance ready for a fight. He hopelessly tried to protect himself from, not only her raised appendage, but from her scowl that could, he was quite sure, evaporate water. "Hey, hey, look uh, she came to _me_."

Stupid, stupid move.

"So now you're blaming your impressionable student?"

Jiraiya sighed, letting all the threats, all the anger, all the flailing of limbs wash over him as he leant against the wall.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

"Neji, I think you're overacting."

"_Really?_" Asked a severely agitated Hyuuga, "I just got back from a three month mission - fraught with danger, leeches and canines - to come back to hear that my cousin, to whom I've recently become attached again, is getting lessons in self-confidence from the pervert of Konoha. Please, tell me, in what way should I be acting?"

His younger cousin winced from her place on his bed, her hair out and her hands between her knees. She had bounced in with the news earlier when she'd heard that Neji was back from his trip, he hadn't even had the time to have a shower, but her attitude became remarkably more subdued when he had exploded upon hearing the newest piece of information and had not shown the smile that she thought he would see at hearing his cousin trying to better herself.

"I can't believe that Hiashi-sama would allow this," he started off again, "What must he be thinking?"

Hanabi watched all the different expressions, on the usually stoic faced Hyuuga, rush through him. She could only speculate on all the different scenarios he must be imagining right now as he kept pacing in his bedroom.

Suddenly, he stopped and stood rigid in one place as an exceptional blush framed his face.

_Oh boy, _thought Hanabi.

"Neji, you must think about this rationally," the young girl pleaded with her older cousin, trying to get him to listen to reason before he went and did something he regretted, "Father has given his permission and his blessing to these lessons and Hinata is happier than I've seen in a while. Maybe if you just gave it some time before you rush in and saved the day."

The shinobi ran his hand through his hair as he sighed, his pale eyes staring at the floor in front of him, his blush dying down.

"Maybe you're right."

The dark haired girl sighed in relief at the change in his demeanour. She hopped off of his bed and went to the door.

"Just wait Neji," she said as she turned back from the door to look at the older Hyuuga, "This just might be the best thing for our Hinata."

When she had left, Neji had a shower to clean away the stress and dirt of his mission. It was a good time to think as well. Leaning against the wood panelling that surrounded the shower he tried to empty his thoughts as the water beat against his back but found that the particularly disturbing image of his naive, fragile cousin being tutored by the man that wrote those pornographic novels was too much. Jiraiya's rough, tanned hands gripping her soft, pale skin made a rage burn in the Hyuuga's chest.

He needed to do something about this but first he'd wait, like Hanabi had told him.

Things could always resolve themselves without his help but in the occasion where they didn't he'd be more than willing to step in and save his cousin.

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Hinata found herself walking up the stairs to her new teacher's front door for the second time with less trepidation than before and found herself excited thinking about the future and the formidable kunoichi she was sure to be with the Sennin's help. She had to stop herself from jumping up to his flight and instead tried to still her enthusiasm by moving up the stairs at a more sedate pace, getting a lock on her emotions. Finally reaching Jiraiya's apartment she shifted the bags, full of ingredients, in her hands, knocked on his door and waited for the Sennin inside to open it for her.

"Come in," his deep bass voice came through the wood. The young woman sighed, her excitement ebbing away slightly as she gathered up some courage from deep inside to speak up so he could hear her.

"Uh, I-I can't."

"Why not?"

Her blush started to make its way across her face as she had to raise her voice, a little bit of impatience tinging her tone, "I've got my hands full."

Hinata heard a door open down the hall and knew that someone was watching them, their voices obviously arousing curiosity.

"Why have you got your hands full?"

Was he serious? Wasn't secrecy part of their deal?

Her face completely red, she edged closer to the door so to be heard better, her excitement now completely gone, "My hands are full of things for _your_ dinner," she paused and edged back looking down to the ground, realising that this was no way to treat her teacher, "please Jiraiya-sen-"

The door was opened and Jiraiya appeared in the doorway, an expression on his face that she'd never seen before as he looked down at his student. "Sorry," he said, a small smile making its way across his face as he let her into his apartment. The door closed behind her and Hinata decided not to ask why her sensei was acting peculiar, it wasn't her place to call into question the actions of the man before her, she had already gone over the top by speaking so forward to him through the door.

Wanting to apologise for her tone she took a breath and stepped forward but stopped when the state of the apartment was revealed to her as the white haired man stepped out of her view. Unable to outwardly object, careful not to offend the man in front of her and mindful of the paper bags in her hands, she settled for a small frown as she looked at the mess, her apology forgotten. Jiraiya, dressed in a black singlet with his usual pants, was looking troubled, his smile gone again as he closed the door. She was about to ask if everything was ok when he turned to her and smiled again, as fake as the first one she had seen, before grabbing the bags from her. Clearing a space on the cluttered bench, he put the bags down and turned back around to face the young Hyuuga who was staring at all the mess with exasperation clearly written on her features.

"I didn't even think that this was possible," she murmured, her fingers itching to point together at the conflicting emotions of wanting to be mad at this man but also realising that he was her sensei and a Sennin and that her father would be incredibly mad with her if it got out that she was not being one hundred percent respectful to this man. She straightened her back, "I guess that this really is going to be a full time job."

He watched her as she looked around in obvious dismay at the state of his apartment and saw confusion cross her face at the conflicting emotions she was feeling towards him. Her face held all of the shifting emotions, from annoyance to respect; she wasn't sure how to approach him because he appeared to the world as a messy, ill-mannered, and gruff man - and he was - but he was also one of the legendary Sennin and as such must be respected.

He could watch her trying to figure it out all day; it was very amusing and did much to improve his mood.

Jiraiya tried to shake away the lecture Tsunade had given him before his student had come. Some of the things she had said stuck with him, and she'd probably apologise at a later date for the whole variety of insults she had thrown at him, but still some of them had cut deep. Shaking himself out of his reverie he looked at his student. She had come straight from practice it seemed, her clothes were a touch rumpled and her face was flushed somewhat. Her hair was held up by the red ribbon that she had come to wear daily and he couldn't help but admire her newly displayed face. It was a start, a good one at that and Jiraiya found himself hoping that this new start would follow with a new attitude. If the way she had spoken through the door a while ago was any indication, things seemed to be progressing with her, it had really only happened because she had taken the initiative to come to him. She was already impressing him and their first lesson hadn't even begun.

Jiraiya quickly moved away to the lounge, firmly placing in mind the distinction between 'fair game' and 'no go' as soon as he realised that his novel's heroine was having a significant change of appearance and character to suit that of the Hyuuga, before calling Hinata over.

"We should have our lesson before you clean up in here."

He sat down on the couch, and turned to the dark haired woman who was still standing by the door, her pale eyes on him as he sat down.

"Sit next to me, Hinata-chan."

She softly walked over and placed herself next to her sensei, turning her body to face him thereby placing herself further from him. Jiraiya sighed but faced her as he started off to explain how their lessons would go.

"I've been thinking about your lessons and I've come to the conclusion that seduction is not going to be the lesson but the goal, Hinata-chan. To possess all those qualities that you mentioned the other day is to perfectly seduce someone." Jiraiya sighed as he put his hand behind his head, ruffling his hair as his student blushed in embarrassment, "I've gone over the details you told me from your last mission and I think that this would be the best plan."

The pale eyed young woman blanched noticeably as he mentioned the last mission and put her head down as she barely replied back affirmatively.

"Now, I want you to put your back against the back of the couch, and relax Hinata-chan," he chuckled softly at her hesitation, "I'm not going to hurt you, everything from now on is a lesson."

When she had done what he wanted he casually placed his arm around her and put his hand on her shoulder. He felt her muscles tense immediately and he all but groaned at her fighting him in every situation. He put more weight in his hand on her small shoulder, grasping it with his fingers and watched as she fidgeted in her seat.

"Please S-sensei, why is this needed?"

The Sennin sighed and turned his body so that he was facing the young Hyuuga, his hand and any other part of his body no longer touching her.

"Talk to me Hyuuga," he had to try not to let his exasperation tinge his tone as she looked back at him bewildered, "Why do you hate touch so much? Or is just me that you have a problem with?"

"No, no Jiraiya-sensei, it's not like that," Hinata started to expressively move her hands around, trying to get across the fact that it had nothing to do with him.

"Well, why is it that you get so tense?"

Pausing for a moment, trying to get her bearings on this new topic, the young Hyuuga moved to face her teacher. "You won't fully understand," she starts helpfully, hoping that he would understand what she was about to say.

Pausing again, her mind moves a mile a minute trying to figure out the best way to explain her hesitation to the Sennin before her, "You are not Hyuuga. We do not show outward affection very often at all and it is often looked down upon and seen as dangerous. We _kill_ with touch Jiraiya-sensei, surely you know this. Touch is not something that we connect to affection unless you are married or are very close since touch is associated directly with trust. You have to _trust_ that they won't hurt you."

Jiraiya watched as Hinata fidgeted and saw the expressions cross her features.

_You've been hurt by someone you trusted._

_Or maybe you've hurt someone who trusted you._

The older shinobi left that topic for another time when they were a bit closer and steeled himself before the young woman to do what he had to do to make this all work. His expression turned thoughtful and his eyes remained clear to the only other occupant in the room. Whatever he was about to do, he meant it.

Reaching for her, Jiraiya engulfed her small hands within his own much larger ones. After a moment, when he could tell that she wasn't as nervous as she had been, he slowly spread her fingers out and moved his grip from her digits to her wrists. He pulled the wide eyed woman slightly forward till the deadliest part of the Hyuuga touched his chest, directly over his heart.

Hinata, held still by his grip and by his eyes suddenly realised where her hands were and tried to pull away violently but Jiraiya held her still and spoke in soft tones to her, trying to get her to relax.

"Hyuuga Hinata, I trust you to never hurt me with your touch unless I intend you harm with mine. I understand that we are not close and it will be a while before we can say that we are friends, but I trust you with this much."

Jiraiya let go of the pale eyed heiress' wrists but she didn't notice as she kept very still, keeping contact with the man before her. "You do not know what you say," the tremors in her voice belying her apparent calm at the actions of this man in front of her, shaking her head slightly, "To you it's not much to say. I-I could kill you, right this second."

"Trust me to know what I say."

"My father always told me to not trust anyone, especially one who tells you to trust them."

The Sennin laughed out loud at this, the reverberations in his chest tingling the tips of the Hyuuga's fingers. She snatched them away blushing as her eyes lowered to the ground. Coming down from his mirth the toad sage relaxed against the couch while Hinata inched ever so slowly away from her, obviously deranged, teacher.

"Fair enough Hinata-chan," Jiraiya, still chuckling slightly, replied to the young woman, "but please remember that I never lie."

He waited for a moment. Hinata, obviously unsure as to what he wanted stayed very still in her spot, her emotions tumbling and roaming all over the place as she tried to get her bearings. She heard the Sennin clear his throat and felt him fidget on the couch.

"Well? Am I not worthy of your trust Hinata-chan?"

The Hyuuga remained silent, not knowing what to say, do or feel at a time such as this and her silence communicated the wrong thing to the man next to her.

Sighing, her teacher stood up and went to the door, "Well I guess that's it then, Hinata," he spoke as he leant on the wall by the entrance, "I can't really teach you without touch." He wasn't using guilt against her, nor was he being obstinate on purpose he was genuinely sorry about it. Touch would be the foundation for most of the lessons that he was going to teach the young woman and without it there was no point to continue on.

Hinata stood up from the couch, glancing at the ground but then bringing her face up and her eyes forward as she clenched her fists for strength. "No," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry? What was that?" Jiraiya looked over at the dark haired woman in his apartment.

"I said, no."

"No to what?" he asked, sincerely perplexed.

Frustrated with her lack of vocabulary at the most important times, Hinata walked over to Jiraiya and looked straight at him as she stood in front of him. He was slouching but was still taller than her, his hair framing his body against the wall he leant on. She stood up straight and didn't hesitate as she grabbed his large, calloused hand, spread his fingers apart and pressed each digit into the flesh around her heart in one swift move, as if to give it more time would leech away her determination.

"I do not trust you as a person because I do not know you, I do not trust you for your reputation because people either warn me against you or are glad to see me with you, and I do not trust you for your title because many have titles but few deserve them," she paused here and he watched in fascination as he saw the woman behind the stammer and the blush and saw the kunoichi, unafraid and deadly, "What I do trust is that you trust me and this faith, if unreciprocated, is truly wasted." She stopped again and pressed his digits further into her flesh, the contact as good as a blood oath. "Jiraiya-sensei, I trust you to never hurt me with your touch unless I intend you harm with mine."

She breathed out and as the air from her lungs was expelled so was the warrior that Jiraiya had glimpsed for a moment, though he knew she was still there, lurking under the surface. He removed his fingers from her flesh and thought on what Tsunade had said to him earlier, striking it from his memory. Konoha had no idea what they had in this woman before him; she was no impressionable, naive, fragile girl. Maybe her teammates had some inkling but he doubted it, it was up to him to open this woman up and show everyone who she truly was.

"I will not let you down Hinata-chan," he smiled widely, proudly at his charge, aware of the task ahead of him, "I will not let you down."

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**A/N: Thank you for reading my latest chapter! I hope you liked it and are looking forward to more, no matter how late the updates are. I'll be better I swear!**

**Yours,**

_Jaggarte x_


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